Gjerdrum Secondary School

The project was the winning entry in an invited competition in 2007. It is designed for four parallel groups, years 8-10, a total of 320 pupils, organised within one compact volume. In this way you get short circulation distances and a plan practically without corridors, with lots of opportunity for social contact in the inner landscape of the school. The centre of the building is the open school ”square”. A large, circular cut in the roof plane gives daylight and air to the square and the adjoining rooms. A tilted south-facing wall has integrated seating next to the outdoor sports arena.

There is a great variation of spaces within the plan, with open surfaces as well as spaces kept within distinct volumes. Each year has its own area of the plan, but flexibility allows for a great variation of uses. Parts of the school can be separated off and hired out to the local community for evening use. Some of the rooms are ”inverted” – exterior atria, cuts in the main volume for outdoor teaching and to aid daylight penetration. These atria are also connected with the surrounding landscaping as ”piers”. Adjacent to each of these atria is a ventilation tower covered in coloured glass.

Universal access has been given priority. Contrast between different surfaces and furnishing elements and the provision of lead lines are some of the interior features. Materiality and colour scheme has also been adapted to aid orientation.